German firm to purchase Finkl & Sons

North Side steelmaker A. Finkl & Sons, locally owned since 1879, is being sold to a German firm and is shopping for a new location on either the Far South Side or Quebec.

Privately owned Finkl is being sold to Schmolz+Bickenbach AG, a global producer of high-grade steels. Terms were not disclosed, though Finkl said it expects to complete the sale in early 2007. Finkl will have sales of $260 million this year, and Schmolz+Bickenbach has $4.7 billion in sales.

Finkl employs 350 people at its factory at 2011 N. Southport Ave. It builds forging dies and molds there for the automotive, aviation and mining industries.

Finkl President Joe Curci said the steelmaker has outgrown its location, where it has been for more than 100 years, and is working with the new owners to find a site by the middle of next year.

One possibility is the former Verson machine tool plant on East 93rd Street. It has 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space, more than twice the company's current facilities in the Clybourn Corridor. Finkl bought the 44-acre site in June.

A 46-acre site that Finkl has under contract in Quebec also is being considered. It houses a vacant steel plant and is next to the Sorel Forge steel plant Finkl owns.

"Our absolute strong preference is to stay here, but when you make a move like this, you have to explore all the possibilities," Curci said.

He estimated that building a new plant will cost more than $100 million, more than Finkl could afford on its own.

"We need more capacity, and we have some space and [electrical] power limitations at our current location. Now is the right time to find a new location."

Anton Finkl, a Bavarian immigrant, founded the company as a blacksmith shop west of downtown. Four generations of family members ran the company until the death of Charles W. Finkl in 2002. His son, James, is a sales executive with the company and is on the board along with his mother, Lee.

The plant is often rented for social and fund-raising events and was where Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced his candidacy for governor and hosted his first victory party in 2002. Blagojevich's father had worked at the plant.